Sommelier Tip: Embracing the (Occasional) Wine-Free Pairing

Wine may be food’s perfect partner, but increasingly, wine directors are organizing multicourse dinners that match spirits, beer and saké with specific dishes, resulting in some revelatory meals.

At Elements in Princeton, New Jersey, Justin Kuruvilla, the restaurant’s wine director, curates 6–8 nontraditional pairing dinners each year. These events “tend to draw a more youthful, fun-loving crowd,” says Kuruvilla. “Our consumers like to broaden their flavor spectrum, which is why we try to incorporate these beverages into our pairings.”

Beer

For Mediterranean dishes, Kuruvilla looks to a lighterstyle hefeweizen since “the dishes’ salt, oil, herbs and olives are extremely good friends with the banana-scented esters in hefeweizens.”

For heartier cuisine, Kuruvilla loves serving up an amber Märzen, “particularly with cuts of meat that have a good, solid sear on them.”

Saké

Noting that saké styles vary as much as wine and beer (saké is, technically speaking, rice beer), Kuruvilla says the smoky, bacon-y aroma of a kimoto junmai is perfect for pork belly. And fans of Provençal rosé would adore junmai daiginjo and the purity of its pairing with a simple Asian dish like his restaurant’s famously rich fluke sashimi.

Combine gin, syrup and saké in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add one shiso leaf and shake well. Double-strain into a Champagne flute and top with the sparkling wine. Garnish with remaining shiso leaf.

Moscato d’Asti Syrup

1 cup Moscato d’Asti
½ cup sugar
8 shiso leaves

In a saucepan set over medium heat, combine the wine with the sugar. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat, then add the shiso leaves. Let the mixture steep for 10 minutes. Remove the leaves and allow the mixture to cool. Strain well. Yields approximately 10–12 ounces.

Korman is known to skip the globe in search of the next perfect sip. She's authored trends-driven travel, wine, cocktail, and food content for over a decade, joining Wine Enthusiast in 2010. Based in New Orleans, Korman recently co-founded an artisanal kombucha beverage company, Big Easy 'Bucha, which gives back to local charities.Email: akorman@wineenthusiast.net

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